Every thing has Planned obsolescence!
the TV, washing machine, cars, toilet seat All of it.
a fridge will last 5 years.
but they could easily make it last 100 years.

My LG TV is from 2007.
My AEG tumble dryer is from 1996.
My Siemens wash-machine is from 2001.
My Torro lawnmower is from 1988 or 1989
My FESTOOL power track saw is from 1994
My Bosch impact drill is from 1992(?)
My STIHL gas-chainsaw is from 197?
My Honda 250cc Enduro is from 1972 and has 100k on the counter.

all of those are still working. All of those are not off-brand and well maintained. So I clearly disagree. Stop buying crap and you´ll have something
that lasts.

But there are some parts that will naturally wear out such as brake pads, saw blades, igniters... You can´t stop that. Where I agree is that ytoday
you need to have some knowledge about the stuff you buy.

You can buy a 450€ high pressure washer that has PVC pump encasement or you buy the 300€ high pressure washer that has the magnesium case. The
cheaper one will last you longer in this case.

Know what you need it for and then buy. I would never buy a high-brand anything, if I only need it a couple of times.

You can repair stuff too. Often it´s the part where the 200 pound gorilla meets the tool (the switch). Stole that from AvE.

originally posted by: Thecakeisalie
These devices are designed to be replaced, not repaired.

Yes, I agree. My washing machine broke down last week. To get it repaired would probably cost more than a new one. I could probably give a washing
machine a go if I could get the parts, but an iPhone would be out of most people's league.

There was something I read about things being beyond most people's comprehension to fix. When I was younger my car was something I could fix myself,
but nowadays I can't even change the headlight bulb, let alone open the engine casing.

Sadly, there is no commercial model that provides for a long-life product. If an iPhone lasted three years instead of two, then Apple's revenues
would collapse.

originally posted by: Scifi2424
Read the Ted Kaczynsk Manifesto. I spent a couple
hours reading this recently. Outside of the whole bombing campaign he makes some good points.

I skimmed it and he does not seem to understand that movements are people being independent (within an industrial and technological environment) and
that if we all went back in time, we would end up behaving as they did in the medieval times or the 'independent lawlessness' of the wild wild west.
Maybe the latter is where his head was at?

a reply to: Thecakeisalie
I agree that our civilization is saturated with planned obsolescence in many forms, but your example falls short regarding resistors and electronics,
at least in the 21rst century. Modern electronics manufacturers avoid using resistors as much as possible because of energy loss. Electronics have
actually become far more efficient than they used to be.

Nevertheless, planned obsolescence is definitely a part of the industry, because everything you buy already has a "better" successor waiting to be
released after enough of the predecessor has been sold.

It was intended. Silicon Valley CEO's were complaining about people holding onto old hardware two decades ago. Those people who didn't upgrade CPU's,
memory, motherboards and graphics boards were holding the industry back. Vendors had to spend millions on customer support for oddball combinations of
hardware. Get everything welded onto the same motherboard and the customer has to upgrade the entire device, but the vendor only need a fixed
combination of device drivers and one system to support. They hated Linux because it was competition and kept old hardware in use.

Now the majority of supercomputers use Linux.

15 years ago I had a laptop that I constantly bought spare parts for. Hard disk drives were upgraded from 40GB to 80GB, 250GB and then 500GB. Memory
went from 1GB to 2GB. OS went from one version of Linux to another. Replaced cooling fan assemblies, keyboard, LCD screen with fluorescent tubes
(exchange price for return of old LCD screen cost 1/2 price of the original laptop).

Imagine the wonders we could create, if the engineers and technicians from manufacturing, and all of the sharp marketing folks, would have dedicated
their brilliance to the betterment of all mankind, instead of enriching the greedy.

Yes, good cooling on a desktop is a luxury, and becomes much more important with overclocking but laptops, tablets and smartphones don't have that
luxury since overclocking is obviously power hungry as are more hefty cooling options. Being that those three are mobile, it goes against it's
design.

Maybe research why and who had major input into building nuclear in japan, which naturally includes the 'where'. Here's a hint: General Electric.
Sorry OP. Off topic. But can't let subtle stabs like that go unchecked.

On topic. OP:
Planned obsolescence, absolutely. Maybe mention it to Elon, he seems about the only mainstream entity capable of breaking that particular trend.
Resistors havent really been a problem though. Personally I've had phones, laptops, tablets that have lasted ages, and some that havent due to bad
handling. Battery seems to be the usual culprit over time for me.

Even with PC's, a PC of mine with an ASUS P5B deluxe that has only just died, and to be honest...I think it's the Corsair TX650 Power supply, or maybe
not. It is an overclocked Q6600.

Tablets, Laptops, all of the above, and below, generally become obsolete rather quickly, with the rapid increase in technology. I think the real
tragedy is the idea that they possibly restrict the release of the latest technology in order to make a profit.

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